WAN-IFRA mag covers lean newspaper production

The Lean Production EXTRA, published by the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA), is the first of three targeted special editions for 2010 available in print and ePaper. The special edition examines some of the most efficient printing plants in the world, as well as exploring the best conditions, technologies, procedures and processes for achieving the goal of lean production.

"The first thing that comes to mind when the subject of efficiency is raised is automation, which is more prevalent in printing plants as a result of technical progress," says Moritz Schwarz, who advises newspaper printing operations worldwide as a WAN-IFRA senior consultant.

But while automation leads to efficiency, and less personnel, Schwarz and other industry production experts told EXTRA that true lean production means carefully considering every aspect of a printing operation for continuous improvement.

The EXTRA features a variety of different lean production solutions:

The Rossel Printing Company in Belgium: Perhaps the ideal condition for considering lean production is the luxury of designing a building freshly from top to bottom. That is the case here where the goal of a 'Just-In-Time' process has been achieved.
Independent News and Media in Newry, Northern Ireland: Instead of constructing a new building, INM chose to move into a warehouse for its printing operation and made the most of this unique older design with some of the most modern equipment in the industry.
The Presse-Druck und Verlags GmbH in Augsburg, Germany: Investing in the most automated equipment on the market is always a good start, but this company proves how workflow planning, integration and management systems helps to hit the bottomline.
The Chunichi Shimbun in Japan: Thanks to highly automated equipment and integrated control systems throughout, combined with a carefully planned building design, this printing centre in southern Japan accomplished one of its primary criterion: to work with minimum personnel.

The expanded ePaper version features two more case studies, from Russia and the United States, an interview with Schwarz about how newspapers are investing in their production facilities, and a report about workflow integration.

In June, WAN-IFRA will publish an EXTRA edition focusing on product innovation, followed in November with a cross-media systems review.

To subscribe to the WAN-IFRA magazine, contact Iris von der Marwitz on tel: +49 6151 7336; email: or go to http://www.wan-ifra.org/subscribe.